


Genesis

by Kalael



Series: Hold your hand 'til the colors fade [6]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: M/M, The very beginning of the reincarnation au yeahhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-09
Updated: 2014-06-09
Packaged: 2018-02-04 01:44:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1762127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalael/pseuds/Kalael
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"What the fuck?" He asks out loud, confused and irritated.  There is, of course, no answer.  He stays in that room for a long time, sitting and pacing and swearing, before someone finally walks in.  Jack turns to look at them but the words die on his tongue.</p><p><em>Oh,</em> he thinks, <em>this is so not fair.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	Genesis

The universe is constantly expanding. The endless mass of darkness and vastness of space is being filled with stars and planets and life. No one is alone, not really. Jack knows that. It’s illogical to think ‘oh, there is no one else in this plane of existence who understands me’. But he can’t help but think it anyway, because in all of his years of wandering he has not connected with anyone the way he has seen the others do so.

Three hundred years is a long time for the citizen of a brown dwarf star to be alone. They don’t generate the heat of other stars and the people are born cold, unable to handle the warmth of other stars without gentle acclimation. It’s not necessary for them to do so, but as the lifespan of brown dwarf star is not as long as the others’, it is not uncommon for the citizens of that star to move to another. The easiest way of doing that is to marry someone from a warmer star and adjust to their ridiculous body heat. Jack had never understand concept. He found it archaic and limiting and pointless, but in the end it made sense. Marrying another star citizen ensured you would have a home and a family.

Jack had been born on a dying star that was predicted to have only a few hundred years. The few children born during that time, such as Jack, have temperatures unusually low for even their standards. He grew up there, ended up being one of the last to move away from the star, and not long after Jack left he received news that his home star had become a black dwarf. Completely lifeless, emitting no heat or life. All who had once lived on that star were effectively homeless, completely without a place to return to. It’s nothing new, nothing unheard of. Entire civilizations have died this way, entire cultures lost or combined with that of another star’s.

The universe is large, frighteningly so. Jack is only one man in that terrifying vastness. A homeless drifter too cold for most other star people to even touch. It hadn’t been so bad at first, and in some ways it still isn’t. Jack likes his freedom, his status as a refugee allowing him to move from star to star with only a wave of his paperwork. It’s not a bad way to live. He scrounged up enough money to buy himself a small, sturdy starship and passed his pilot’s test and every renewal thereafter. It’s a completely independent life.

But during those long, lightless journeys between stars, Jack stares out the windows of his ship and feels the vastness of the dark pressing around him.

It all changes when he’s caught in the crossfire between an imperial vessel and a small fleet of pirates. It’s not the first time he’s run into pirates, you can’t wander through several galaxies over the course of three centuries and not have an encounter with some unsavory sorts, but it’s definitely the first time he’s seen one of the Milky Way’s Lunar military starships and it’s sort of amazing. Or, it would be if he weren’t being beamed into it under the false impression that he’s one of the pirates.

Jack sits in the small cargo area at the back of his ship, as the military people demanded. He has the required paperwork with him and his weapons are placed by the cargo door for the officers to see and inspect. He’s familiar with being treated as a hostile since there are plenty of war-torn stars out there, but he’d heard that the Milky Way was one of the most peaceful and pleasant galaxies. That’s why he had gone there, though a large part of that decision was due to rumors about the amazing Lunar Capital.

The cargo door begins to open. The air pressure changes and for a moment Jack is terrified that they’ve remotely opened it out in space and he’ll be left to suffocate, but then there is blinding white light shining into his eyes and imperious voices.

“Hands on your head.” They tell him, and Jack does as he’s told.

“Paperwork is in the red folder. I’m sure you’ve already grabbed the weapons. I’m Jack, by the way.” He doesn’t get a response, not that he’d been expecting one. Two officers files past him, checking every nook and cranny of the cargo deck before entering the living quarters of the ship to keep inspecting. Jack is hauled to his feet and dragged off his own ship, which isn't something he'd been expecting, so as they pull him along he feels his heart start to beat like crazy. Why are imperial officers being so hostile towards him? Didn't they look at his damn papers?

They put him in a tiny, cold room with a single metal chair and tell him to sit. He does so without any verbal protest but he can't help the bemused, sour look on his face. The officers leave and Jack is completely alone.

"What the fuck?" He asks out loud, confused and irritated. There is, of course, no answer. He stays in that room for a long time, sitting and pacing and swearing, before someone finally walks in. Jack turns to look at them but the words die on his tongue.

 _Oh,_ he thinks, _this is so not fair._

The man is attractive in a way that is not quite Jack's type but his mouth still goes dry. He's tall and grey skinned with shocking dark hair and piercing golden eyes that give absolutely nothing away as he stands before Jack.

"State your name, which quadrant you hail from, and your purpose in coming to this territory." He says stiffly, and even his ridiculously smooth voice isn’t enough to distract Jack from the matter at hand.

"Okay so I gave you guys my papers, doesn't anyone read anymore?" Jack complains, slouching down into his uncomfortable metal chair and glaring sullenly up at the officer.

"Name, quadrant, purpose." The man repeats in a clipped tone.

"Ugh. Jack Frost, refugee from Andromeda, seeking to visit the Milky Way's royal capital." Jack answers moodily. The man marks something in a notebook and Jack cranes his neck to try and see it, but the officer just gives him a look. Jack catches a glance at his nameplate instead. Corporal Pitchiner, huh?

“Why are you going to the capital?” The officer, Corporal Pitchiner, asks. Jack shrugs his shoulders, not expecting the interrogation this is turning into.

“I mean, that’s sort of what refugees do? They look for somewhere new to live. I’ve heard rumors about the Lunar Empire and thought I’d give it a shot.” He'd been questioned before, of course, but only after he'd landed. Patrols didn't generally stop people in the drift of space. Pitchiner doesn't meet his eyes.

“And you came all the way here from Andromeda, due to your home star becoming a black dwarf.”

“You guys did read my paperwork!” Jack frowns. “Why are you interrogating me if you already have all my info? My passport has all the stamps to correlate with my story, and my ship log is totally up to date.”

“I find it hard to believe that a citizen of a dead star, a former brown dwarf at that, would be wandering space alone for three hundred years.” Pitchiner says shortly, and it's actually kind of insulting to be treated this way just because other brown dwarf cultures are known to settle down quickly. Jack shifts uncomfortably, trying to keep his anger from his voice.

“Yeah, well, that’s a lifestyle choice. Not all of us want to settle down right away just because there’s nowhere to go home to. There’s more to see than just one overly bright star.” He answers through clenched teeth. Pitchiner raises an eyebrow and writes something else in the notebook.

“So you’re headed to the capital because the temperatures are more suited to you.” Jack startles at the change in subject, which makes Pitchiner look at him with sudden intensity.

“I never said that.” Jack protests. Pitchiner's lips twitch in something like a smirk.

“It was implied. Our readings place your temperature at an unusually low degree, so the capital is probably where you’re thinking about settling down.” His tone hardens, like the idea of a refugee in the royal lunar capital is repulsive to him. Jack wants to throttle him, wants to show him just how capable he really is. Three hundred years of wandering had taught him a lot, one jackass official wasn't going to take him down so easily.

“It doesn’t have to be the capital. Anywhere on that moon is probably fine, it seems cold enough.” Jack responds coolly. It's not even a lie.

“There are other moons in places closer to Andromeda.” Pitchiner presses, as though Jack is hiding some secret reason for actually wanting to come to the capital. He's not a terrorist, or a spy, or a smuggler. He has nothing to hide.

“You live here, you have to know about the rumors. The capital seems like a cool place, no pun intended. I just wanted to check it out before making any decisions.” Jack bristles and Pitchiner stares him down.

“What are you running from?” He asks directly, which makes Jack snap.

“I’m not running from anything!”

“You’re three galaxies over. That seems like running to me.”

“Yeah, wartorn star systems and rampant space pirates. I can’t be the first refugee who just wants to start over far away from where they came from.”

Pitchiner finally falls silent. Jack knows his expression must be giving him away to the official. Andromeda is not the most pleasant place to live, he's seen his fair share of violence and pain. Jack closes his eyes, thinks of a thousand screaming voices as a civilian transport was shot out of the sky before reaching orbit. Two hundred years isn't enough to erase it from his mind.

"I want to be somewhere peaceful. Somewhere I can settle and make a living on my own. You should be proud that your homeland has such a great reputation, you know." Jack says quietly. "Not a lot of other galaxies can lay claim to that."

"Thank you for your cooperation. You will be returned to your ship shortly, the examination turned up nothing out of the ordinary."

"So this invasive interrogation is standard procedure? Super fun." Jack grimaces and Kozmotis offers up what might have been the beginning of a smile.

"It's how we keep our homeland safe. I am proud, by the way. But it's only due to the efforts of my comrades and I that it has the reputation it does." He says, and Jack snorts out a laugh.

"Well, I've gotta dock points on the welcoming committee. So I'm free to go? You're not gonna shoot me down if I head towards the capital, right?" It's a serious question even though Jack tries to keep his tone light. Kozmotis shakes his head.

"Keep your head down and you'll be fine. The security in the capital is much stricter, however, so consider this interrogation...a warm up."

"Great. Well, thanks a bunch."

"Safe travels, Jack."

It makes him pause, the way that Pitchiner says his name. Maybe it's because it's the first time someone has said his name in a long time, but he likes the way it sounds.

"Be careful out there, Pitchiner. Thanks for the warning."

He boards his ship and they open the hanger for him to leave. Jack glances briefly at the massive imperial ship before setting his sights forward. He likely won't see Pitchiner again. Patrol ships have a nasty habit of being destroyed or lost to the dangers of space. Jack sets his navigation system to home in on the capital and when he isn't shot down for continuing onwards, he pushes into hyperdrive and space becomes blurred shadow around him.

He looks forward to the future, to settling down and making a life for himself. He doesn't think about the expanding war zone behind him, or the whispers of great evil in the far corners of the universe. He doesn't think about those things. He just keeps looking forward.

**Author's Note:**

> uuuhhhhh there's not much else written at this point. Also this probably needs some editing and tweaking but I got lazy.


End file.
